New Treatments For Opioid Addiction: Vaccine And CBD Product In Development

With drug overdoses having skyrocketed over the past two decades and deaths increased over four times in the period between 1999 and 2017, according to CDC data, it's no surprise that the number of those prone to opioid use disorder and opiate addiction is rising as well.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is trying to tackle the growing crisis by filing a pair of requests for applications (RFAs) to provide funding research into the efficacy of a variety of harm reduction policies, including decriminalization and safe consumption sites.

And now, experts from a new research center at the University of Washington are approaching the problem from a different angle.

Marco Pravetoni, the head of the new UW Medicine Center for Medication Development for Substance Use Disorders, is leading a group of scientists in an effort to develop a vaccine to help fight the opioid epidemic.

The new vaccine – which is currently under development - is expected to stimulate the body’s immune system to attack and destroy opioid molecules before they can enter the brain, as first reported by the Seattle Times earlier this month.

Moreover, it’s designed not only to prevent drug cravings in those suffering from opioid abuse disorder but also to block the effects of opioids such as euphoria, pain relief and even overdose.

Building on research published in the journal Nature in 1974 that studied a rhesus monkey that had been trained to self-administer heroin and cocaine and later was given an experimental vaccine, the vaccine is still a new frontier in treating addiction.

Pravetoni, who was recently recruited from the University of Minnesota, is hoping to start a new clinical trial this year. The center, which has raised more than $2 million in initial funding, officially opened on Jan.3.

FDA Gives Green Light To Clinical Trial On Novel CBD Drug For Treating Opioid Use Disorder

Speaking of different approaches to the same issue, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved an investigational new drug (IND) application for the clinical trial evaluating ANANDA Scientific Inc’s investigational drug - Nantheia ATL5 - using cannabidiol as an adjunctive treatment for opioid use disorder.

Sohail R. Zaidi, the CEO of the Colorado-based biotech company, said the fourth IND approval for the Nantheia product line further “re-enforces our vision of developing CBD as a therapeutic for a number of key indications.”

The trial is being led by principal investigators Edythe London, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences and Richard De La Garza II, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences. Both are from the Jane and Terry Semel Institute at David Geffen School of Medicine UCLA.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) agreed to provide funds for the research.

“The approval of the IND for this important clinical trial is a key milestone for our ongoing research into therapeutic alternatives for opioid use disorder and reversal of the effects of the opioid epidemic,” London said.

Photo: Courtesy of Myriam Zilles on Unsplash